Stories about Asad Shafiq

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Quetta Gladiators versus Peshawar Zalmi: the two finalists confirmed after a month of enthralling cricket. All the ebbs and flows of the tournament bow down to one game, the final, which is to be played on Sunday, March 17th.
Gladiators have previously been part of two finals, yet have come out short on both occasions. I believe the reason is their key players leaving them once the tournament was shifted to Pakistan. This year they will not be facing such a problem, having secured the services of T20 megastar Shane Watson. Watson was part of the previous Pakistan Super League ...

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Pakistan last played a Test series against South Africa in 2013 and lost 3-0. Five and a half years later, nothing seems to have changed. Another series defeat, another series full of poor planning. When will the Pakistani management learn?
Winning series in the UAE against the likes of Sri Lanka and Australia isn’t the most difficult feat to achieve. For me, the biggest test of a team’s competence is playing away from home in tough conditions. And South African conditions are exactly that. The toughest place for Asian teams to play is generally England and South Africa. Ironically, these ...

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Sarfraz Ahmed takes pride in his T20 captaincy, as he holds the record of the highest win percentage as a T20 International captain and has taken Pakistan from number seven to number one in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 rankings. However, he hasn’t enjoyed similar success as captain in other formats.
Although, Pakistan won the Champions Trophy under him, that has proved to be an anomaly considering the results that have followed in the ODI format. However, it is his Test captaincy that has continuously come under the microscope since he took over. Pakistan losing their first home ...

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The cracks within the Test unit had started surfacing a while ago, with a disappointing loss in the Test series against New Zealand at home. Turbulence was felt by those up in the ranks, and yet everyone stayed silent. However, a humiliating defeat in the first Test against South Africa penetrated all the cracks in the Test squad and caused Mickey Arthur to experience a meltdown inside the dressing room.
Arthur is well within his domain to criticise senior players who are neither performing nor learning from their mistakes. Pakistan had a golden opportunity – as it sat comfortably at 101 ...

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It was an eventful four days of Test cricket that eventually ended in the worst possible manner. Men in green succumbed to defeat by a meagre margin of four runs while they were on their way to victory. But then again, when it comes to Pakistan, is that really surprising? In the Champions Trophy final, English commentator Nasser Hussain brilliantly summed us up:
“Pakistan cricket at its best. One minute down, next minute up.”
"Brilliant from Amir. Pakistan cricket at its best. One minute down, next minute up" – Nasir Hussain (18-06-2017). #greatestCricketQuotes
— Imy Asghar (@PakCricket_) June 23, 2017
In this case, ...

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Australia’s tour to the UAE, which can only be termed a horrendous nightmare for them, has finally come to an end. Poor technique and an inability to adapt to the conditions played a pivotal role in a terrible performance by the Aussies against the men in green.
After Pakistan’s embarrassing exit from the Asia Cup, fans were unsure of how things would unfold, especially in the Test series. Both teams lacked experience, particularly in the batting department. Australia missed stalwarts Steve Smith and David Warner after the sandpapergate scandal, while Pakistan looked to be in all sorts of trouble after ...

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How do we even assess the embarrassing performance exhibited by Pakistan at the 2018 Asia Cup? If we briefly sum it up, we can definitely detect complacency, lack of mental durability and a mismanagement of human resources. Now, after its heart-wrenching exit from the event, Pakistan cricket’s next adventure is a two-match Test series against Australia, which starts tomorrow.
The Inzamamul Haq-led selection committee has announced a 17-member squad to face the team that ranks third in Test rankings. However, it seems the selection committee hasn’t learned from past mistakes and has picked players that are either inexperienced or unsuitable ...

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In the first Test at Lords, Pakistan did to England what Pakistan does best – surprise everyone when they expect it the least. I’ll make a confession, I was hopeful for Pakistan to perform but not confident enough to wake up so early and sacrifice my sleep over it, since the match started at 6am in New York. When I woke up, England was four down for a little over 100 runs.
Then, Mohammad Amir ran in and got Alastair Cook bowled with a move that only Amir could have pulled off. From that moment onwards, I was glued to the ...

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You may try and push against a wall, but it will never move, not even by a centimetre. This is the example of Fawad Alam, a relentless performer who just wants to play for his country, but can never seem to catch a break. Alam has all the necessary capabilities to perform well in international cricket, but unfortunately, fortune, or perhaps just the selectors are never on his side.
Currently, Alam’s ordeal is all over social media, as he has once again been excluded from the Test squad for Pakistan’s tour of Ireland and England. There is no question ...

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The Pakistan cricket team is set to resume international duty, as Sri Lanka’s tour of the UAE begins on September 28th (which will potentially feature a T20 in Lahore). This will be their first bilateral series since May.
The summer of 2017 has been nothing short of unforgettable for Pakistan’s cricket fraternity, as the national team defied popular perception (not to mention the ranking system) by lifting the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in England.
Pakistan won their first Champions Trophy title, India v Pakistan, Final, Champions Trophy 2017, The Oval, London, June 18, 2017. Photo: PA
In addition to this ...